Sophie and Grace Shirley ventured into the unknown with the University of Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team last year.

The siblings from Saskatoon played for the Badgers in a season that was like no other with the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Sophie played her third season with the Badgers, while Grace was in her second. The Shirleys left Saskatoon for Madison, Wisconsin, with no guarantees they would even play a game in 2020-2021.

When the dust settled, the Shirleys helped the Badgers win their sixth NCAA national title in team history. The Badgers took the NCAA championship game on March 20 of this year with a 2-1 overtime victory over the Northeastern University Huskies.

The win tied the Badgers with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers for the most NCAA women’s hockey championships.

The Badgers finished the season with a 17-3-1 record, which meant they played 20 games fewer than when they won their last non-COVID NCAA title in 2018-19.

Overall, both sisters were happy they decided to return to the Badgers with the NCAA title win providing a sweet cap.

“With everything that has happened this year, I think it makes it that much more special,” said Sophie, who is 21-years-old. “It is just a feeling that you will never get over. It is a pretty cool feeling for sure.”

“It was a bit risky coming just not knowing whether or not it would have been worth it,” said Grace, who is 19-years-old. “It is safe to say we made the most of it. Once our season was decided, then it was all uphill from there. It was a good decision to come back.”

Still, the journey to get to that national championship was unlike anything any team had to go through before.

On March 10, 2020, the Shirleys were practicing with the Badgers in preparation to host the Clarkson University Golden Knights in an NCAA quarter-final game on March 14, 2020.

That excitement disappeared when the 2020 NCAA tournament was cancelled on March 12 due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, which was at its beginning.

On top of seeing their season come to a sudden end due to something outside the confines of the sport, the two skilled forwards found themselves on a plane heading back to Saskatoon.

After being sent home, they finished their academic work and finals online.

At home, they would reconnect with former Stars teammates and other players from Saskatchewan who played in the NCAA Division I ranks. Conversations were not normal off-season talks.

They talked about the possibility of taking the 2020-21 season off and training at home for the 2021-22 campaign. For some NCAA players from Saskatchewan, that decision was made for them, as some programs opted to not play in 2020-21.

The Shirleys’ older brother, Collin, didn’t get to play a fourth season with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team in 2020-21 as all U Sports nationals and all Canada West Conference competitions were cancelled due to worries about the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Shirley sisters would usually return to Madison in the middle of June for off-season training and skating sessions at the Badgers state of-the-art facilities. In the off-season of 2020, they didn’t return to Madison until August.

“We were home for a very long time,” said Grace. “We got summer at home. I know there were a couple of girls that started going back to campus. We really hadn’t heard much in terms of the season. There weren’t practices held, but there was ice.

“Some girls were training as a group. Once we saw people going down, I guess we just missed it. It is so fun (in Madison) just being around our teammates.”

Sophie said the plan for the sisters all along was to rejoin the Badgers until someone declared the Badgers wouldn’t be back on the ice.

As an extra bonus, the NCAA ruled that players who took part in the 2020-21 campaign would not lose any eligibility due to the uncertainties regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I can speak for myself and I feel like a lot of my teammates when you say that Wisconsin is not a bad place to be at all,” said Sophie. “We’re always provided with everything we need to be able to get better and to be able to stay in shape.

“Being in the company with your teammates as well too is a huge thing. Our team kind of came together and said that we all wanted to come back. We wanted to do everything we could in our power to be able to have a season and be able to stay healthy for the whole season.”

The Badgers regular season opened on Nov. 27, 2020 with a 3-2 overtime loss in Columbus, Ohio, to the Ohio State University Buckeyes, where Sophie picked up her 100th career point. She collected her 50th career goal one night later in a 5-0 win over the Buckeyes in Columbus.

Following those two games, the Badgers had their season put on hold as a COVID-19 outbreak saw six players from the team test positive for the virus. All of the Badgers, six games in December of 2020 were postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Badgers resumed their season in early January and hit high gear and never looked back. Sophie posted 12 goals, 13 assists and a plus-18 rating in the Badgers’ 21 games. Grace had two goals, one assist and a plus-two rating, skating in all 21 contests.

Sophie was also a member of the Badgers’ NCAA championship team in 2018-19. She said the feeling of winning nationals this year was similar to that first title win, while adding it was a much different championship victory this year.

“I honestly think the feeling is the same,” said Sophie. “It is an indescribable feeling. It is something that you dream of. Once it happens, it is a pretty crazy feeling. I think for sure winning it this year with the pandemic and with everything happening with that.

“The first couple of months of the season not being able to play a game I think that was pretty crazy. I think that is something our team really grew close on. All we were doing was practising.” Grace said she believes Badgers head coach Mark Johnson, who is a legend in Wisconsin, when he told the players that this will be the championship, they remember the most in their hockey careers.

“We went from a big COVID outbreak, and our season kind of got stopped,” said Grace. “There were times when we were skating with five people on the ice at one time.

“You had to wear your mask. There was so much adversity, and I know every team experiences it. To kind of come out on the higher end of that and to say that we won in such a crazy year, I think it is pretty special.”

Going forward, the Shirleys are still navigating their way through uncertainties. Just past the middle of April, Sophie was in Halifax taking part in the selection camp for Canada’s senior national team that was to play in the women’s worlds in May in Halifax and Truno, N.S.

On the final day of the selection camp on April 21, the players found out women’s worlds were cancelled after Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin withdrew permission for the event. Sophie flew home to Saskatoon to finish her academic work and take her finals online with the U of Wisconsin.

She said the approach to this offseason will be like last year’s offseason.

“With this COVID year, it changed a lot for a lot of people,” said Sophie. “I think for this off-season, it is just kind of the same.

“With the world championships falling through, I think that is just another thing that I’ll try to be working towards. Obviously, it is disappointing to see that fall through. For me, it doesn’t change much.

“I think I just go into this offseason with the same goals and the same mindset that I had last offseason and throughout this year. I’m just kind of working through everything that has been going on and has been happening. I’m excited to see what happens.”

-Darren Steinke